Cognitive Behavior Family Therapy of Psychosomatic Disorders with an Emphasis on Positive Psychotherapy
- 1 Psychotherapy & Child Clinical Psychologist, Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
- 2 Psychotherapy & Child Clinical Psychologist, Faculty of Psychology and Education, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
Objective: The purpose of the present study is to examine the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral family therapy with an emphasis on positive psychotherapy in treating psychosomatic disorders. Method: A single subject design was applied. Three patients suffering from chronic lower back and neck pain were selected as a sample group and participated in 16 sessions of family therapy, two hours per week. Examination by a physician, X-ray and clinical interview based on DSM IV-TR along with MMPI and SCL- 90-R tests were used as instruments. Result: Almost all the subscales of MMPI and SCL-90-R and other instruments showed significant decrease after therapy as compared with the pretest results. Discussion: The results indicated the effectiveness of cognitive behavior family therapy based on positive psychotherapy. Some possible reasons could be solving conflicts and interpersonal problems by means of training certain skills such as problem solving, developing relationships with others, effective coping, assertiveness and positive thinking.
- American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC.
- Asmundson, G., Govdony. G, & Peter, J. (1994). Norton and Felix veloso, Anxiety Sensitivity and fear of pain in patients with recurring headaches. Behavior Research and therapy, 5, 103-113.
- Hooman, A. (1997). Standardization of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) among undergraduate students of Tarbiyat Moallem University. Tehran, Iran: Research Institute of Tarbiyat Moallem University.
- Johnson, H., & Dahl, Jo, A. (1998). Effect of a cognitive-behavioral pain management program. Behavior Research and Therapy, 36, 915-930. doi:10.1016/S0005-7967(98)00079-5
- Kazdin, A. E., & Weisz, J. K. (1998). Identifying and developing empirically supported child and adolescent treatments. Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 66, 19-36. doi:10.1037/0022-006X.66.1.19
- Kendal, P. C., Panichelli-Mindel, S. M., Sugarman, A., & Callahan, S. A. (1997). Exposure to child anxiety: Theory, research, and practice. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 4, 29-39. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2850.1997.tb00096.x
- Khodayarifard, M. (2000). Application of positive thinking in psychotherapy from islamic perspective. Journal of Psychology and Education, 5, 141-164.
- Knapp, P. H. (1985). Current theoretical concepts in psychosomatic medicine. In H. I. Kaplan, & B. J. Sadock (Eds.), Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry (4th ed., pp. 1113-1121). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.
- Liebman, D., Minuchin, S., & Baker, L. (1974). The use of structural family therapy in treatment of intractable asthma. American Journal of Psychiatry, 131, 241-253.
- Lipowski, Z. J. (1985). Psychosomatic medicine and Liaison Psychiatry. New York: Plenum Press. doi:10.1007/978-1-4613-2509-3
- Marnat, G. G. (1990). The manual of mental assessment. New York: Plenum Press.
- Mirzaie, R. (1980). The Study of psychometric properties of Symptom CheckList-90 (SCL-90). Unpublished master’s thesis, Tehran: University of Tehran.
- Najarian, B., & Davoodi, I. (2001). Preparation and validation of SCL-25 (Short form of SCL-90-R). Journal of Psychology, 18, 250 261.
- Peseschkian, N. (1986). Positive family therapy: The Family as Therapist. Berlin: Springer-Verlag. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-70680-6